North Island New Zealand
Surf Spots & Information

The North Island of New Zealand is 113,729 square km
in
area, making it the world's 14th largest island. It has a
population of 3 million. Several important cities are on the
North Island, notably New Zealand's largest city, Auckland,
and Wellington, the capital, located at the southern extremity of the island. Approximately 76% of New Zealand's population lives on the North Island.

According to Māori mythology, the North and South Islands of New Zealand arose through the actions of the demigod Māui. Māui and his brothers were fishing from their canoe (the South Island) when he caught a great fish and pulled it from the sea. While he was not looking, his brothers fought over the fish and chopped it up. This great fish became the North Island, and thus the Māori name for the North Island is Te Ika-a-Māui (The Fish of Māui). The mountains and valleys are said to have been formed as a result of Māui's brothers hacking at the fish.

The North Island has warm temperatures in summer from December to March and wetsuits are not usually needed. The South Island waters are colder and generally call for wetsuit protection.

The choice of surf breaks is vast - from clean barrels peeling onto pure white, sandy beaches on the east coast, to gnarly freight train sets pounding rugged west coast beaches. There are ‘super tubes’ with 1-km-long joy rides at Ahipara and plenty of consistent surf at Raglan. You can experience big waves that are longboard at Murderer’s Bay in Dunedin, as well as clean tubes at Gisborne.

North Island is a real surfer’s paradise. The surfing near the main urban areas can get a bit crowded; similarly, the more famous spots such as Raglan and Piha can have crowds and it's best to explore away from crowded beaches and spots.